


A Stranger In Need

by elliseleven (orphan_account)



Category: NSA Intern (Video Game), NoStranger (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Implied/Referenced Suicide, NoStranger Spoilers, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-06
Updated: 2020-08-13
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:08:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22148452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/elliseleven
Summary: After being rejected by her best friend, Ruby turns to a stranger to hear her out. Unknown to her, this stranger may have more in common with her than she first thought.
Relationships: Adam Verdu & Ruby Serein, Adam Verdu/Pepper June, Katie Garcia & Ruby Serein
Kudos: 6





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a rewrite of a fic I posted on here last year. Turns out people actually want to read it, so it's staying! I also like this version a lot more than the last one, and it's also longer so it's a win-win. Enjoy!  
> (Also this was inspired from Ruby following Adam on Spotify, implying that she knew him somehow)

That was the most embarrassing thing that had ever happened to her. If only she had been able to sleep that night, this wouldn’t have happened. Ruby, who had fallen hopelessly in love with her best friend, decided one night to turn up at her friend’s house and confess her true feelings. She didn’t even consider the possibility that Katie would say no, and especially not that she would yell. 

“I’m… I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything.” Ruby was close to tears as the two girls stood on Katie’s street in the middle of the night. 

Katie could see lights turning on in the neighbouring houses, but she ignored them. She regretted raising her voice, but there was nothing she could change about that now. You can’t take back words once you’ve said them. “Just go.”

“But-”

“Please.” 

After Ruby didn't say anything, Katie turned away and walked back down the path to her house. She couldn’t bear to look at Ruby’s face anymore.

Ruby stood there long after Katie had gone back into her house. She could hear voices inside. Her parents must’ve heard the commotion. She could sometimes hear a high pitched sob from Katie. It broke her heart to hear that.

She walked herself home. Her parents weren’t mad to see that she’d snuck out of the house, to her surprise. Maybe it was the tears that made them feel sorry for her, but they were only relieved that she was safe.

“I don’t want to talk about it, Mom,” Ruby sniffed when she was asked about her midnight escapade.

She sighed. “All right. Just go back to sleep, okay?”

Ruby nodded, but she knew she wouldn’t be able to sleep. Not after all that. 

She got into bed and turned on her phone. She remembered an app that she had installed a while ago called Kindred Spirits. She was going to use it for someone to talk to a few months back, but she had forgotten about it completely after she had started to talk to Katie.

Ruby blinked back her tears. She didn’t want to think about Katie now. She went into the app, and it started to connect her to another user. Within a few minutes, she was good to go. 

There were dots to show that someone was writing and then a text came through.

_ You see a man on the edge of a building. He looks like he’s about to jump. Do you care if he jumps? _

A lump formed in Ruby’s throat. Suicide was the one thing she didn’t want to be reminded of, especially now. Even before Katie rejected her just half an hour ago, she had thought about ending her life. She thought about it almost every day, and Katie was the only one to ever pull her out of that when it started to move to the forefront of her mind. But after their argument, who will keep her from that in the future?

She shook her head. That didn’t matter now. All that matters was replying to this person. It helped her to only think about one thing at a time. She had a tendency to overthink everything.

_ Of course, I do. _

Adam couldn’t help but laugh. Of course, they would say that. Everybody does. But they only care about suicide when it directly affects them. Say the man was at home sleeping days away, and too depressed to even think about leaving the house to find a tall enough building to jump off of, no one would care. They would say, “Stop being so lazy!” or “Just go outside and get some fresh air!” They never care until it’s too late.

_ But if he jumped, would you really care? It's just another death. And he chose it.  _

Ruby rolled her eyes. Who do they think they are? She would obviously care if someone literally killed themselves in front of her. Whoever this person was, they were beginning to annoy her. 

_ Yes, I would really care. What are you trying to get from this?  _

Adam was surprised. Pepper had never responded in this way when he had asked her this.

_ I just thought it would be an interesting question to start off with, you know? I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable. _

_ Whatever. Look, if you only messaged me to ask me about my morals, I'm really not in the mood right now.  _

Ruby put her phone down and took a slow, deep breath. The last thing she wanted to do now was to start an argument about whether people should give a shit about someone dying. She didn’t understand why a debate was needed at all. Surely, it was just common sense to care. She had been hoping that she would find someone to make her feel better. It hadn’t turned out that way. 

Her phone dinged, but she took her time looking at it. She really hoped it wasn't another message just casually talking about suicide like it was nothing.

_ I feel like I didn't make a good impression earlier. I'm sorry. Can we start over?  _

Ruby was tempted to ignore them, but there was a part of her that wanted to give them another chance.  _ All right. _

Adam was relieved. He thought he'd lost them. Even though he didn’t necessarily have time for chit-chat, he wanted to make sure that Ruby was on his side. He needed her for this.

_ So… where to start? Well, my name's Adam. I like long walks on the beach… No, scratch that. My current hobby is writing. I’ve been doing that a lot recently. _

Ruby giggled despite her frustration.  _ You're funny, I'll give you that. I'm Ruby. I guess I don't really have anything interesting to say about myself. _

_ I'm sure you have something to say! Come on, I want to get to know you better.  _

Ruby rolled her eyes, grinning.  _ Fine! I like reading, I guess. I could give your book a try when it gets published.  _

Adam smiled. It seemed like she was warming to him. That was good.  _ I’d love that, honestly. Speaking of books, the one I’m writing now still needs some work to be done. How about you help me? _

She sighed. She was hoping that this could just be a nice conversation. Of course, he would only need her for something. 

_ What is it? _

He noticed the hostility, but he decided to keep on going. Maybe he could persuade her to help. 

_ I'm writing about the interconnectedness of people. I find psychology and how people work very interesting. I have two more subjects to talk to, and I would appreciate it a lot if you could help me with that.  _

She had to read the message a couple of times. It just seemed weird that this man would go out and just randomly talk to people. What do they even talk about? She shook her head. It sounded strange to her, and even if it didn't, she didn't have the energy for it right now. Adam had momentarily distracted her from Katie, but she was still thinking about her. Her words had been running around her head ever since she got home. 

_ Sorry. I can't. I've been through a lot tonight. _

Adam rolled his eyes. She wouldn't even need to do anything. He would do all the work. All she would be doing was acting as his cover.  _ Are you sure? It'll be fun, I promise! _

_ I'm sorry, Adam. _

He pinched the bridge of his nose. First Pepper, and now Ruby? Why does everyone let him down?  _ I really need this. You won't need to do all that much, just a bit of googling. Please. _

If Adam was trying to wear her down, it was working. Ruby was too tired to argue with him.  _ Fine. But if I agree to help you to write your book or whatever, I get to talk about what I've gone through tonight. It's all I wanted.  _

Now, he was beginning to feel frustrated. Can't she just help him? He doesn't have time for this! He started to respond, anger starting to bubble up in his chest. He was about to send the message when he stopped himself. How long would it take to finally find someone who would see all this the same way as him? Maybe he should just hear her out. Who knows? Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. 

He deleted the initial angry message and tried again. It was hard to put his emotions to the side, but it would hopefully be for the best. 

_ I can work with that. What do you want to talk about? _

Ruby breathed a sigh of relief. She didn’t know what would happen if she couldn’t talk about it. Of course, she could talk to her parents, but it was incredibly difficult to be vulnerable with them. All she needed was a stranger to talk to. That was it.

_ I have this best friend called Katie. We met in class, and we’ve talked for a few months. I know it hasn’t been long, but I really started to fall in love with her. I don’t know if you know what that feels like, but once it’s there, it’s so hard to get rid of. So I told her. I couldn’t sleep tonight, so I went round her house to tell her I loved her. She was telling me we couldn’t be together. ‘There was no way in hell,’ she said. I don’t know why she was so aggressive, but she started yelling when I wouldn’t let her go. It broke my heart, Adam. _

She couldn’t continue. The lump in her throat reappeared, and she started to cry again. It was surprising since she thought she had run out of tears hours ago. 

Adam had never been one to cry all that much. So when a tear rolled down his cheek, he acted like it was completely new to him. Everything that Ruby was saying reminded him of Pepper. He covered his face and let out a scream of frustration. It wasn’t meant to happen like this. He wasn’t supposed to let his emotions get in the way. They ruin everything!

He was about to get up and walk away when he noticed he had a message.

_ Adam? Did you read my message? Sorry, I just really need to talk to you right now. _

He took a deep breath. If she needed him so badly, then maybe he can play along.

_ I’m very sorry to hear that. Is there anything I can do? _

_ No. Just… thank you for being here. _

Adam smiled. At least one good thing had come out of this. Someone actually liked speaking with him. He hadn’t felt that for the longest time. He sat there for a while, wondering. If Ruby could talk about an experience that had clearly hurt her, could he do the same about Pepper? He had never told anyone the full story about what had happened between them. Would Ruby not like him anymore? He decided he didn’t have anything to lose here, so he took a leap of faith.

_ Hey, while we’re here, can I tell you something too? _

_ Sure. Go ahead. _

It took a very long time and some backtracking, but Adam finally told Ruby about Pepper. He, of course, didn’t tell her the whole truth, but he told her what he could. He told her how they’d met, how she’d helped her with writing his book, and how they eventually broke up. He felt stupid telling her how in love he was, but he felt like he couldn’t leave that kind of emotion out when Ruby had been so vulnerable with him. He didn’t quite know what was compelling him to do this. After all, he had kept all this a secret for years. Why would he bother telling anyone now? But he felt good about it. He still wanted her back more than anything, but talking with a friend was a temporary solution.

It took a while for her to process everything Adam had told her. She had been so busy living in her own head that it took her a while to realize that he was going through the exact same experience as her. It made her feel better that she wasn’t alone.

After sending that message, Adam didn’t quite know what to do with himself. He couldn’t remember the last time he had been that open with someone. It was strange to think about. His heart was racing just thinking about how Ruby would react, and what she would say. He laughed. Why did he care about what she thought? Even so, it took a while for him to calm down.

_ I’m sorry that you had to go through that, Adam. I know it’s awful, but I’m glad you told me about it.  _

_ Thank you for listening to me. _

Ruby checked the time on her phone. It was 4am. The sun would rise in about an hour, so she decided to stay up to see it. She’d had many sleepless nights like this, so what was one more? She wondered if Adam would get to see the sunrise too.

_ Hey, what time is it where you are? _

_ About 4am. I know, it’s so late, but I’m not tired. _

Ruby smiled. Another thing in common.  _ Me neither. I’m guessing you live in New York too. Have you ever seen the sunrise here before? It’s beautiful. _

_ A couple of times, yeah. Sometimes, I’m up working late or on my boat. _

_ Cool! We can watch it together. _

_ That would be nice. _

Adam sat up in his bed and stretched. He had planned on getting more of his research done tonight, but he had completely forgotten about it. Funny how that works. A few hours ago, nothing would have stopped him from getting it done. But now… it seemed to matter a little less to him. Maybe he would change his mind in the morning - or  _ later  _ in the morning, technically speaking - but for now, he decided to just keep Ruby company and watch the sunrise come over the skyscrapers. 

Usually, at this time of night, it would take all of his willpower not to jump off of his balcony but, tonight, he felt different. He felt lighter as if a weight had been lifted. And maybe, it had, thanks to her.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was supposed to go into my fic titled 'wake up call' but it didn't make the cut. i didn't want to get rid of this though bc it's too cute so it can go here as a bonus chapter! i guess this could be considered a sequel to the first chapter. enjoy c:

Adam stared at his phone in silence, trying to process what had happened. He couldn’t believe it. Despite him doing his best to keep his voice low during the call (he didn’t want to attract any attention from his neighbors), his heart was beating out of his chest.

He couldn’t sit still any longer, so he got up and walked to the kitchen to get some more water. Feeling this much emotion at once scared him. Pepper was gone… Or was she? He could easily get her back. He had been putting off his plan for a while, waiting for the right time. But wouldn’t this be the best time to do it? All he had to do was get to Pepper’s house and somehow kill Tim without him making much noise. 

Adam shrugged to himself as he played it through his mind. That sounded easy enough to him. Then he just needed to buy the next plane ticket to LA to find Noel, and then Pepper would finally see how much she meant to him. Easy!

It didn’t take him long to find everything he would need for his trip to Pepper’s house, and he decided to leave the LA trip till afterwards. One thing at a time.

He shrugged on his coat and made to go outside when his phone buzzed in his jeans pocket. He frowned, checking the phone screen. Why was Ruby calling him?

He almost let it go to voicemail, but he couldn’t ignore her like that. Despite her refusing to help him with his plans, she still held a place in Adam’s heart. He genuinely cared for her, and he was thankful for her help all those months ago. That was why he picked up the call.

“Hey, Ruby.” The corners of his mouth twitched into a smile as he heard Ruby’s voice on the other end of the phone.

“Hi, Adam. I can’t sleep.”

“Me neither.”

Ruby giggled. This seemed to be a pattern with them. “Thought so. Am I interrupting anything?”

Adam considered telling the truth but decided against it. He didn’t know how she would react. “Nah, not really. Just about to go out for a walk.”

“That sounds like a good idea. I would, but I don’t think it would be safe for me, honestly.”

Adam raised an eyebrow. “Why?”

“Uh, because I’m a woman?” She laughed awkwardly. “Why else? Well, I guess I’m a lesbian too, but unless I was wearing a bright-ass rainbow flag then I don’t think anyone would be able to tell.”

Adam laughed. “I suppose not. I forgot about that, actually.”

“What? That I’m gay? Wow, Adam. I’m offended that you could forget.”

“No,” Adam said, giggling slightly. “I forgot that it’s dangerous for women at night.”

“Yeah…” she mumbled. “Who knows who I’d come across in the street, you know? Like a murderer or whatever.”

Adam felt a pang of guilt. That was exactly who he was or at least who he was about to become in a few minutes. What would Ruby think if he told her he was one of the people she was scared of?

A wave of sadness washed over him, and suddenly he felt like crying. What was he doing? What would all this accomplish? He thought he’d known exactly what he would gain from this, but now he wasn’t so sure.

“Adam? Are you okay?” Ruby had noted the silence on his end, and it worried her.

“Pepper broke up with me.” He blurted it out before he even knew what he was saying.

“Oh, I’m so sorry.” Ruby remembered how infatuated Adam had sounded when he talked about Pepper back when they first met. It must be hard for him now. “She meant a lot to you, huh?”

“More than you’d know.” He’d distracted himself from the pain he felt during that phone call, but it was starting to come back to him.

Ruby wondered what he meant by that, but she figured that this wasn’t the time for questions. All he needed was someone to talk to. “I’m really sorry.”

“Yeah…”

Adam leaned against his front door and wondered whether he even wanted to leave the house anymore. Ruby interrupting his original plan made him rethink. He was so confused.

Tears began to overflow no matter how hard he tried to hold them back. All this emotion had been bottled up inside him, and his first thought had been to what? Murder the people closest to Pepper - the girl he loved more than life itself - just to let out some anger? Sure, they’d tried to split them up, but what if they were right? What if he never deserved her in the first place?

“Adam? Do you want me to hang up?”

“No,” he said a bit too quickly. “I, uh, just want someone here with me.” He groaned inwardly. He sounded so pathetic, but it was too late. You couldn’t take back words once you’ve said them.

“No problem,” Ruby smiled. “I can stay up as long as you want me to.”

A genuine smile spread over Adam’s face. “Thank you, Ruby.”

“No worries. It’s the least I can do.”

They stayed silent for a while. Adam sat down on his floor, his back against the front door, before he realized what that implied. He had given up on his little mission. Pepper didn’t deserve anything he had planned to do. He wasn’t worthy of her anymore. She had made sure to tell him that.

“How’s Katie?” Adam didn’t want to talk about himself anymore, but the silence between them was too much.

“Oh.” Ruby didn’t expect him to remember their argument a few months back. “We don’t really talk anymore. I guess she’s still weirded out with me being gay.” She laughed, but there was a bitterness to it. “It’s funny. I sent her some cryptic texts back then, and she was really worried. That was the time when I started talking to you. I don’t know if you remember.”

“Of course I remember,” Adam said. She had helped him too that night, but he had never told her by how much.

“Good,” she giggled. “Well, that night, I was planning to, uh… Anyway, everything ended up fine. Katie blew up my phone that night though, asking if I was okay. I said I was because it was true, and she got really mad at me. She thought I was faking it, and I just was trying to get her attention. But, like, I really wasn’t! If I hadn’t met you…” She trailed off, her words getting caught in her throat.

“I know.” Adam was in danger of crying himself. He didn’t want to imagine what would’ve happened to her if he hadn’t been there, let alone what might have happened to himself. A lot of things could’ve gone wrong if they’d never met. “You don’t have to say it.”

“Thank you. Well, she got mad  _ again,  _ and we haven’t talked since. So yeah. That’s fun.”

“Yep. So I guess we’re both single now,” Adam chuckled.

“Mhm. But don’t you dare get any ideas. Even if I wasn’t gay, I wouldn’t be attracted to you.”

Adam grinned. “Ouch. I have feelings, you know.” Sometimes he wondered if that was true.

Ruby had a jolt of panic. “Oh, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to say it that harshly.”

“It’s all good. I know it was a joke.” 

“Cool. Are you still gonna go out for that walk?”

He thought for a moment. He could still feel the knife heavy in his pocket, and he sighed. There was no way he could go through with it now, not after what Ruby said. He didn’t want to disappoint her or Pepper either. Sure, it probably wouldn’t matter anymore, but he still wouldn’t want to make her hate him more than she already did.

He made up his mind. “No. I think I’ll just head back up to bed.”

Ruby nodded. “Yeah. Me too. Well, technically, I never left, but I should try and sleep.”

Adam checked his phone screen. He smiled. “It’s 4am. Just like the first time we talked on the phone together.”

“Oh, yeah! What a coincidence!”

“Well, I don’t want to ruin the moment, but I should get to bed now. I’ve had a  _ long  _ night.” He couldn’t even begin to explain how true that was.

Ruby giggled. “Me too. Well, goodnight, Adam.”

“Goodnight, Ruby.”

Ruby hung up first and left Adam with his thoughts. He knew he couldn’t escape them, but he sometimes wished they had an off switch. All he could do now though was hope they would quiet down enough for him to get some sleep. He stood up, stretched, and went to his closet to take off his coat again. Once he had hung it up, he took everything out of his pockets including the unused knife. He returned each thing to its rightful place, and that seemed to calm him. 

He trudged up the stairs to his bedroom, but before he went to sleep, he had one thing left to do: to delete Pepper from his phone and social medias, and therefore from his life. Yes, they lived in the same city, but he knew he wouldn’t go out of his way to meet her anymore. This part of his life was over. 


End file.
